As the ISL schedule went for a toss due to the Covid outbreak in the bio-bubble in Goa, Chennaiyin FC sat largely unaffected. They had already played 11 games and were on a one-week break when teams struggled to deal with last-minute changes in schedule.
Now, as the tournament tries to limp back to normalcy, CFC are also back in action. And they couldn't have asked for a softer game than North East United FC, who are languishing at the bottom of the pile. With the Mumbai City FC vs Jamshedpur FC game on Friday postponed as well, a win on Saturday will help CFC go third on the table leapfrogging a host of teams who are a point or two ahead.
But the two-time champions need to get their act right, having won only one of their last five games. The Bozidar Bandovic-coached side has been hampered by poor showing of their strikers Nerijus Valskis and Lukas Giekewicz in the final third. They have also struggled in the midfield with Anirudh Thapa and Vladimir Koman failing to create enough opportunities for the strikers.
Bandovic admitted that Chennaiyin attackers need to be more consistent. "We need to improve in attacking, decision making and play with more confidence. I believe, to make a stronger team in the future, we need to have more consistency in this department. We have trained and prepared for it. We need to try to move the ball, be ahead in possession and dominate the game," Bandovic told a press conference on match-eve.
Chennaiyin will be boosted by the return of Koman and Ariel Borysiuk who have recovered from their injuries. Bandovic said he has all his foreigners available for the first time in the tournament. "For the first 10 games, we played without at least one foreigner. I did not talk about it because I do not intend to use it as an excuse. Now we have a big chance to get into the top-4. And a full team can help us achieve our target," he said.
Bandovic though is not taking NEUFC lightly even though Khalid Jamil's men dropped to the bottom of the table after their loss to Odisha FC in the last game. NEUFC are on a five-match winless run with their defence conceding 25 goals, the most by any team this season. "NEUFC have some dangerous players like Imran (Khan), VP Suhair and (Deshorn) Brown. We saw their game (against Odisha), they used some different types of pressing. We will prepare our team for that. We also have seen their other matches and have analysed them but is it most important to focus on our own team," he said.
